Footballing Father and Son Combinations

Written by James Caughlin

Brisbane Roar player Corey Brown has forged a career in the footsteps of his father former NSL footballer Rod.

Both have enjoyed success playing in Brisbane with Rod scoring in the famous 1997 NSL Grand Final, while Corey has won trophies in his time with the Roar.

Daniel Garb caught up with the Browns in this week’s Australian Football Story, talking about their relationship with each other and their respective careers.

It’s always tough forging a career where you follow a famous father in the global game of football but we have seen it happen all over the world.

Cassio and Bernardo

In the early days of the A-League, Cassio Oliviera was instrumental for Adelaide United in his seven years with the club including their run to the 2008 Asian Champions League Final.

Now his son Bernardo is coming through the ranks and while he’s got a long way to go before matching his Dad’s 158 appearances, his first impressions are quite strong.

As the A-League continues to grow, we’re looking forward to seeing more

Cesare, Paolo and Daniel Maldini

Cesare Maldini made over 400 appearances for AC Milan before becoming a successful manager with both the club and Italian National Team.

It was a great career that was eclipsed by that of his son Paolo, who became one of the game’s greatest defenders.

Apparently just two generations of elite footballers was not enough for them though with Daniel Maldini looking like a promising prospect for AC Milan.

Ian Wright, Bradley and Shaun Wright-Phillips

Evergreen striker Ian Wright made over 500 appearances across spells with Crystal Palace, Arsenal and other clubs, but it was with the Gunners where he made his name, winning multiple trophies.

Since then he has become an entertaining pundit on TV while his sons Bradley and Shaun Wright-Phillips both forging their own careers.

After bouncing around English clubs, Bradley made the move to the US and Major League Soccer where he has scored over 100 goals in his time with New York Red Bulls, LAFA and Columbus Crew.

Shaun eventually joined him at New York Red Bulls but not before 22 years with Manchester City and Chelsea with his time at the latter including a Premier League and FA Cup title.

But he will forever be associated with his time at City.

Peter and Kasper Schmeichel

Plenty of sons will opt to play a different position to their father, but apparently having an all time goalkeeping great as a dad only spurred on Kasper.

Between the posts for one of the most impressive league title wins of all time with Leicester, Kasper is showing plenty of signs that he is just like dear old dad.

Miguel Angel and Xabi Alonso

Miguel Angel Alonso, or Periko as he was otherwise known was an influential midfielder with Real Sociedad helping them to win back to back La Liga titles in 1981 and 1982 before moving to Barcelona.

In the same year he won his second title played in the World Cup and secured a move to Barcelona, he also became a father to Xabi Alonso.

The younger Alonso enjoyed a decorated career highlighted by spells with Liverpool, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

His long passing ability is as good as they come.

Claudio and Gio Reyna

Former American captain Claudio Reyna enjoyed a decorated career in Germany, Scotland and England and is not the sporting director of Austin FC in the Major League Soccer.

It will be a while yet before we see his son Gio gracing the MLS as he is one of Europe’s brightest young prospects and he will likely be on the move from Borussia Dortmund before too long.

As if living with Claudio Reyna as your dad wasn’t enough, he was named after Giovanni van Bronkhorst!

Alf-Inge and Erling Haaland

Even if the career of Erling Haaland came to an end tomorrow (and we hope it doesn’t) he will have had one of the more impressive runs for any striker.

After setting all sorts of records in his time with RB Salzburg and now Borussia Dortmund, there’s a reason why his next move is likely to be for a massive some of money, whatever currency you put it in.

But his pedigree comes from his father Alf-Inge who was a defender and spent a decade in England, although his most famous moment came when his rivalry with Roy Keane boiled over in a Manchester Derby.

Danny and Daley Blind

Dutch ironman Danny Blind’s career spanned 20 years with Sparta Rotterdam and Ajax as well as the national team.

There was nothing he didn’t win at club level with five Eredivise titles, four KNVB Cups, a Champions League and everything else he could have won in his trophy cabinet.

His son Daley started out his career with Ajax before joining Manchester United for an ill fated four year spell.

Upon his return to Ajax in 2018, he found his mojo once again and was part of the side that made the 2019 Champions League Semi Finals.

Patrick and Justin Kluivert

Another Dutch duo, Patrick Kluivert set a very high bar for his son Justin to follow.

Both were Ajax products and Patrick joined Barcelona in 1998, producing some of the best goals you will ever see.

In that time he also became a feature for the Dutch national team.

Justin is still searching for a long term home and is the middle of his second loan spell after signing with Roma in 2018.

But if his performances in France this season are anything to go by, he’ll be just fine.

George and Timothy Weah

If you look up George Weah right now, you might read about the president of Liberia and think you’ve landed on the wrong page, but Weah the politician and Weah the footballer are one and the same.

His 18 year career saw him play for 11 clubs with his mos famous spells coming at Monaco, PSG and AC Milan, winning trophies just about everywhere he went.

No wonder he won the 1995 Ballon D’Or

His son Timothy has opted to represent the USA at international level before beginning his senior career with PSG.

Currently at Lille, he’s another promising young attacker coming through the ranks with big expectations because of his surname.

Diego and Giovanni Simeone

We all know Diego Simeone the manager and most of a certain vintage will remember Diego the footballer as well, however both will view him as an Atletico Madrid icon.

His style as a player has become his style as a manager as well.

But don’t expect him to make a move to sign his son Gio, because there is no chance that would end well.

Diego has already ruled that possibility out because either he’s going to annoy his son by putting him on the bench from time to time or annoy the rest of the squad by playing him.